The Chicago Cubs will head to San Diego for a rematch of the 2025 NL Wild Card Series after going 5-1 against the Padres during the regular season.
Following a win from the San Diego Padres on Saturday night, the Chicago Cubs are officially bound to hit the road for next week's Wild Card Series.
Notably, the Philadelphia Phillies also lost on Saturday night at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Philadelphia is still battling for the final Wild Card spot in the National League, but because the Cubs hold a 6-1 advantage in the head-to-head series with the Phillies this season, and therefore own the tiebreaker, Chicago is now locked into the No. 5 seed in the National League.
That also sets up their opponent for the first round of the playoffs.
It will be a rematch of the 2025 NL Wild Card Series. The Cubs will once again take on the San Diego Padres, but this time the series will be held at Petco Park.
Awaiting the winner is a date in the NLDS with the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Brewers. So apart from home-field advantage, it's the exact same path the Cubs had in 2025, giving them a chance to avenge last year's defeat to a division rival.
While playing on the road is less than ideal, the good news for Cubs fans is that Chicago went 5-1 against the Padres during the 2026 regular season. That would suggest this is a rather favorable opponent from a matchup standpoint.
Chicago took two out of three games from San Diego in a series from April 27-29, scoring 20 runs over those three games.
From June 29-July 1, the Cubs swept San Diego at Wrigley Field, including a 23-3 win in the series finale.
Outscoring the Padres 55-28 over six games lends itself to a rather lopsided season series, especially between two playoff teams. And it's a good sign for a Cubs offense that has been slumping a bit to close out the regular season.
Matthew Boyd is the intuitive option to take the ball for the Cubs in a crucial Game 1. He last started against the Miami Marlins on Thursday and delivered seven innings of one-run ball as the Cubs clinched their playoff spot.
In a brief three-game series, your season can end in the blink of an eye. If you don't come out of the gate playing your best baseball, that's especially true on the road.
Boyd did a nice job in the 2025 Wild Card Series, also taking the ball in Game 1 and delivering 4.1 innings of one-run ball as the Cubs came away with a 3-1 victory.
The Cubs and Padres are slated for the late game on each day of the Wild Card Series, with first pitch scheduled for 9 p.m. Central.
